Submitted By: Deanna Haskell

‘World’s Coal Use Carries Deadly Cost,’ an Associated Press article by Charles Hutzler, highlights the effects of industrialization on laborers.

Coal mining is considered to be one of the most dangerous professions worldwide. Economic growth and industrialization around the world has caused an increase in the demand for coal, which can be used to generate relatively inexpensive electricity.

Coal is a major source of electricity for the Chinese. Coal powers many of the factories that produce inexpensive goods. Farmers have turned to coal mining as a means of increasing their income and according to the article, are more afraid of unemployment than of the frequent possibility of being involved in a coal mining accident.

The larger Chinese state owned mines have safety regulations similar to those in the United States, but the small mines do not. In fact, “80 percent of the casualties occur at small operations, many of which dodge government crackdowns, often aided by local officials who are sometimes part-owners.”

Clearly the Chinese government knows how to make working conditions safer, now the question is how can they enforce safety standards in smaller mines. According to the article, the government has blown up facilities at smaller mines that did not comply with safety standards. Since coal is so important to the local people as a means of employment is there a way to improve working conditions rather than destroying them?

Mining is dangerous no matter where it takes place: “But the death toll in China is on another scale. By official count, 4,746 workers died last year in coal mines. China’s fatal accident rate of two deaths per million tons of coal mined is 50 times hirer than America’s and nine times that of India. Many more deaths and injuries go unreported at China’s smaller mines…”

At what cost does our inexpensive electricity and the ability to buy inexpensive goods come? Next time you purchase an item made in China, will you wonder if someone died mining the coal that was used to power the plant that manufactured that item?